Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Polemonium hybrida cultivar Polbress.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Polemonium plant, botanically known as Polemonium hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Polbressxe2x80x99.
The new Polemonium originated from a cross-pollination in 1995 of the Polemonium cultivar Purple Rain, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unindentified selection of Polemonium yezoense, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Polbress was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in June, 1996 in Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by divisions and basal cuttings taken at Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom, since April, 1997, has shown that the unique features of this new Polemonium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Polbress have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Polbressxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Polbressxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit; strong and erect flowering stems.
2. Purple-colored foliage.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Light violet blue-colored flowers with bright yellow-colored anthers.
Plants of the new Polemonium are most similar to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Purple Rain. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom, plants of the new Polemonium differed from plants of the cultivar Purple Rain in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Polemonium were taller and broader than plants of the cultivar Purple Rain.
2. Plants of the new Polemonium had larger leaves than plants of the cultivar Purple Rain.
3. Fully expanded leaves of plants of the new Polemonium were purple in color whereas fully expanded leaves of plants of the cultivar Purple Rain were light green flushed with purple.
4. Plants of the new Polemonium were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Purple Rain.
5. Plants of the new Polemonium had taller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Purple Rain.
6. Flowering stems of plants of the new Polemonium were more erect than the flowering stems of plants of the cultivar Purple Rain.
Plants of the new Polemonium can also be compared to plants of the male parent selection. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom, plants of the new Polemonium differed from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Polemonium were taller than and not as spreading as plants of the male parent selection.
2. Fully expanded leaves of plants of the new Polemonium were purple in color whereas fully expanded leaves of plants of the male parent selection were green in color.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Polemonium were more violet in color than plants of the male parent selection.